logograph

American  

[law-guh-graf, log-uh-] / ˈlɔ gəˌgræf, ˈlɒg ə- /

noun

1. a variant of logogram.

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Other Word Forms

• logographic adjective

Etymology

Origin of logograph

First recorded in 1790–1800; logo- ( def. ) + -graph ( def. )

Explanation

A logograph is a symbol that represents a whole word. You're probably familiar with logographs like & and $. Logographs give you no clues about how to pronounce the word associated with them — they just have to be learned and memorized. You can also use this term (or logogram) for other characters or signs that represent a word. Chinese characters and hieroglyphs are often logographs, for example. Logos means "word" in Greek, and graphe means "writing."